Took the Nobler to the Field Today

Not to fly it -- it's still nekkid (and I still haven't decided on silkspan or plastic covering). Rather to show it off, since all the woodwork is done with the exception of carving the cowl.

But it _did_ crash! An acorn fell out of a tree (a long way) and put a

1" diameter hole in the wing sheeting, right near the wing root where it's hard to repair.

:-(

That's yet another plane with crash damage even before it got it's covering. One of these days I need to get it right...

Reply to
Tim Wescott
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On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:37:17 -0500, Tim Wescott wrote in :

What I do is to create a lip for the patch by using CA to glue bits and pieces of balsa to the underside of the good sheeting, all around the hole that needs to be filled. I stick the next piece to be glued in with a pin, run a little CA along one half of it, get the piece stuck to the underside of the sheeting, and then repeat the process until I have enough of a surface to which I can glue the patch that fills the hole.

Use slightly thicker balsa for the patch and sand it down to match the original thickness around it.

Only you will know where the acorn hit when you're done.

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

No worry. They always fly better after that first repair. You just got that part over with quite quickly.

Reply to
M-M

I cut tapered sides into the hole, and if it doesn't enlarge it too much I make it rectangular. Then I glue in a plug (of thicker balsa) with Ambroid ('cause it sands much easier than CA), and carve and sand as necessary.

This repair was complicated by the fact that at the wing root I had to undercut the wing fillet, step the end of the patch, and kind of hinge the patch into place.

But the result is much the same -- the only way you know there's a repair there is because the wood color is a bit different.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

Dude!

Reply to
Fubar of the HillPeople

On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:49:39 -0500, Tim Wescott wrote in :

Nice! I hadn't thought of tapering the sides. That should should help blend the patch in when you're done.

Marty

Reply to
Martin X. Moleski, SJ

It does that, but mostly it makes it easier to get a good tight fit. You can't control the height very well, but that's why you use thicker material and make sure that it stands proud of the surrounding sheet.

Reply to
Tim Wescott

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